News and reviews from across the worldwide Triratna Buddhist Community (formerly known as the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) and Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha Sahayaka Gana (TBMSG) in India)

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

In common with other Buddhist sanghas in the West, the FWBO attracted a lot of young people in the 60’s and 70’s, fewer in the 80’s and 90’s, and even fewer today. Why? Who knows – but we’d like to find out!

Sometimes the spiritual path is spoken of as starting with the experience of Dukkha, or unsatisfactoriness: we are sure that everyone experiences this and finds this painful, the young often more than the old. And sometimes the Goal is spoken of as ‘the Taste of Freedom’, again we are sure that all desire this, the young no less than their elders.

As a first step, in November this year, there’s going to be a weekend gathering of all those with an interest in this area. The weekend is open to everyone – of all levels of involvement and all ages. We’d especially like to get young people from centres along and hear what they have to say and encourage them to get involved. Please tell people at your centre about this event, and also come along yourself, even if you are no longer young! But just for the sake of clarity, the focus will be on folk in their teens through to the end of their twenties.

The aim is to create energy, confidence, inspiration, and ideas. Among other things we’ll be using ‘Open Space Technology’ to maximise everyone’s opportunities for contributions and learning. We hope to encourage centres, retreat centres, teachers, and preceptors to have this as part of their perspective on their work.

There are big questions to be addressed: how can we create a vibrant FWBO culture that inspires young people with the Dharma? What are young people looking for? How can the Dharma touch them? And how can we create a sense of community in which teenage offspring of Buddhist parents will want to get involved?

The weekend is from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th November; the venue is ‘Bilberry Hill’, a little way outside Birmingham, UK. And the cost is £50, including food and accommodation. (If you can’t afford to pay that, please pay less.) Full details will be sent upon booking.

To book, please send a cheque for £50, payable to “FWBO” to: Lokabandhu, 25 St. Edmunds Road, Glastonbury, Somerset, BA6 9HX, UK; or contact him on lokabandhu@fwbo.orgfor more details.

Finally just to mention there’s a poster promoting the event, you can download it here. Please print and promote!

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Triratna Buddhist Community

The Triratna Buddhist Community - formerly known as the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) - was founded in 1967 by Sangharakshita. It is now an international movement with activities in more than 20 countries, including India. The Triratna Buddhist Community is a non-sectarian Buddhist movement which seeks promote the practice of Buddhism in a form appropriate to the modern world.

Triratna means "Three Jewels", specifically the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, which are the central foci of a Buddhist's life and practice. They've long been represented in our logo and we're delighted that our name will now reflect them as well.